Ohio Sets Fourth Consecutive Record for Boating Registrations

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio loves to go boating. The number of Ohio boat registrations reached a record high for a fourth consecutive year in 2012, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The ODNR Division of Watercraft, which oversees the registration and titling of all Ohio recreational watercraft, announced that a record 435,310 boats were registered in 2012, surpassing the previous record of 426,674 reported in 2011. These registered boats included: powerboats, jet-propelled personal watercraft, sailboats and manually-propelled boats that include canoes, kayaks and rowboats.

Included in the total is a record 107,671 manually-propelled canoes and kayaks registered in Ohio last year. This is an increase of 9,978 from the previous record of 97,693 reported in 2011. Last year’s total is more than double the 50,804 nonmotorized canoes and kayaks that were registered in Ohio in 2002.

The largest segment of Ohio-registered watercraft only dropped slightly from 163,637 in 2011 to 163,147 in 2012, and this number includes powerboats measuring 16 to 25 feet in length. The number of jet-propelled personal watercraft (PWCs) increased slightly from 43,108 in 2011 to 43,162 in 2012.

When the watercraft registration totals are divided by county, the top five counties for 2011 were once again the top counties for 2012, including Franklin, Cuyahoga, Summit, Hamilton and Montgomery. The ODNR Division of Watercraft reports that an additional 6,872 boats, which include manually-propelled canoes, kayaks and rowboats, were registered last year by 58 Ohio boat liveries.